The Greensboro College Pride men’s basketball team didn’t set itself up for disappointment by setting high expectations at the beginning of the season. But it’s hard to look at the 7-18 season and not be somewhat dissatisfied as to what happened. Greensboro closed out the regular season with six straight losses - the last an 80-65 debacle in the first round of the Dixie Conference playoffs.

                    The Pride opened the season with a victory over Heidelberg College, scoring 95 points. The following day - the rest of Greensboro’s season changed dramatically. Starting point guard Lee Tucker broke his hand in a 79-78 overtime loss to Oglethorpe University and was lost for the season.

                  Without a prototypical back-up like Tucker waiting in the wings to handle the ball, Greensboro had a hard time putting any sort of consistency together - especially offensively. Greensboro averaged over 21 turnovers per game the rest of the way. Defensively - The Pride gave up 82.2 points per outing - last in the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

                  The season was not without its highlights - some that will carry over into the new millennium. The biggest of those was Shannon Scales - who played in every game and hit an amazing 60% of his shots during the year. Scales - who wasn’t even a starter when The Pride took the floor in the season opener - scored in double figures in 21 of the team’s 25 games. His 36-point outburst against Shenandoah University on February 13 was the sixth highest point total scored in a single game in the history of Greensboro basketball. The high-flyer finished second in the Dixie in field goal percentage.

                 Two-guard Jay Campbell gave The Pride a solid sniper from the outside. Campbell’s mid-season form saw him hit 32-of-64 three-point shots in a span of six games. Campbell finished the season at over 39% from beyond the arc. He was fifth in the Dixie Conference in that category.

                Marlon Petty, a transfer from North Carolina A&T, was a welcome addition inside. He finished first on the team in rebounds (7.0) and second in points (10.5). Petty’s presence and impact was felt immediately as he registered double figures in each of the team’s first six games and ended the season with the most double-doubles of anyone on the squad (5).

                Ted Wewer - a traditional shooting guard -  was asked to fill point guard shoes when Tucker went down early on. Wewer averaged a team-best 3.5 assists per game and scored in double figures 11 times. His outside shot also helped open up things on the offensive end of the floor.
                  
                One of the best experiences of the year came during the semester break when the men’s team took a 10-day trip to Europe. The Pride toured Belgium, Germany, France, Holland and London. While in Belgium, the team played two Belgian professional teams. Pepinster - a Division I team - contained such former college all-stars as Dante Bright and Eldin Hodge. The Pride also took on Division II Huy.

             The return of Scales, Campbell, Petty, Wewer and  Tucker next season gives Greensboro some very solid pieces to what it hopes will be a championship puzzle. The return of strong reserves Cliff Joyner and Patrick Smalls provides great depth and additional experience off the bench.